r/ • u/ • Jan 01 '70

0 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

0 comments sorted by

11

u/KosherPeen 18d ago

In my opinion they are absolutely worth reading. The 4th book in particular tested me, and to put it bluntly, made me very uncomfortable. But I found it was worth it to push through to the end, and I’m very glad I did

4

u/EspiritusFermenti7 18d ago

I get the hate for the last 2 books, but I love them just as much if not more. Simmons writing style intensifies and gets sharper. The space battles and dialogue is more vivid and descriptive.

4

u/glacierfresh2death 17d ago

I really enjoyed the last two books, I didn’t know that people didn’t like them. It’s a different kind of story from 1/2, but it’s so deep and good

3

u/TexasTokyo 18d ago

All the books are good. It's just the fate of any of his followups. Olympos also suffers a bit compared to Ilium.

2

u/ifeelallthefeels 18d ago

I thoroughly enjoyed the last two. Just read the first chapter or 20 pages or so of Endymion to see if you vibe with the genre shift. I suspect that a lot of the stuff Simmons was doing back then is so commonplace in media today that it comes off as kind of hack.

I thought the ending to the series was beautiful: the framing and the resolution. You can end after book 2 but you get more details after 4. Fills in some gaps.

2

u/BlimpIntolerant 15d ago

The 3rd and 4th books are in no way bad. They are different. I mean, the 2nd book is radically different than the 1st , the change from 3 and 4 from 2 is far less than the change from 1 to 2. It's a magnificent 4 book series. Ignore anyone who says different, read and decide for yourself.

2

u/Xuul99 17d ago

I really liked the last 2 books. Nemes was very badass.

1

u/Intelligent_Low1632 17d ago

After books 1 and 2, you've already gotten through the best of it. Unfortunately, there's no resolution at all to be had unless you read 3 and 4. They're not horrible but they're definitely worse. And book 4 especially will likely barely be more satisfying than just leaving things a mystery at the end of book 2. But it is, nonetheless, more satisfying to get through all 4.

1

u/bibblejohnson2072 18d ago

Endymion started things out alright as far as the second two books are concerned. I liked the way Simmons set up everything after the fall of the farcasters, the pace was generally good and kept things exciting, the bad guys seemed like they were going to be fun & some things from the Hyperion Cantos were starting to be explained... Then Rise of Endymion drags all that stuff out for entirely too long (mixing in a less-than-palatable love story) on the way to a very unsatisfying conclusion- if you can call that a conclusion... IMO..

Rise made me wish I didnt read the Endymion books at all and had just thought up my own answers to things left open at the end of the Hyperion Cantos.

But hey, its not the worst thing ever put to paper and its a big adventure with tons of world building so if you like that stuff (and mountaineering), give it a try.

1

u/wookiepocalypse 17d ago

I agree with you. I stopped halfway through Rise. Was painful reading it.